A prior method of forming a plastic preform includes extruding virgin resin to form a flat plastic sheet, and die-cutting the plastic sheet to form the preform. Because the preform is made entirely of virgin resin, the preform is relatively costly to manufacture. Furthermore, because the plastic sheet is die-cut to obtain the desired shape of the preform, there is significant excess or scrap material associated with this method. The preform must also be heated prior to and/or during a subsequent molding operation.
Another method of forming a preform includes die-cutting layers of fibrous material from rectangular blanks or continuous rolls of material. The fibrous layers, which may include synthetic fibers and/or natural fibers impregnated with resin, are then heated and compressed together to form the preform. Because the fibrous layers are die-cut to obtain a desired shape, this method also involves significant excess or scrap material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,513 discloses a method of recycling used trim components to form new trim panels for use in motor vehicles. The method includes shredding manufacturing scrap and post-consumer scrap into small particles to produce fluff. The fluff is then mixed with water and a binder reagent, and the mixture is placed in a sheet mold where it is formed into a pre-peg sheet. Finally, the pre-peg sheet is compression molded to form a finished trim panel. Similar to the above methods, however, the pre-peg sheets must typically be cut or otherwise trimmed prior to and/or after the compression molding step.